Melbourne (Reuters): Second seed Simon Halep eased past Russian Veronika Kudermetova 6-1 6-3 to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open for the fourth straight year on Friday.

The twice Grand Slam champion feasted on the Russian’s serve, breaking her opponent three times in the first set and another three times in the second.

The 29-year-old was broken twice herself but pounded 21 winners past her error-prone opponent and served out reasonably comfortably for the win after an hour and 18 minutes on court.

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